The opportune beauty of dramatic departures.

by Joseph Reynolds. Excerpted from his novel, Of Lunacy and Valor.

By the middle of the day after Dr. Keating’s death, Carrigan’s sleep was no longer dreamless. In fact, he dreamt with intent and purpose, for his dreams were a preamble to an event he would live very shortly. He dreamt of Jane Kiley. There would be a funeral. There would be an opportunity.
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The city is filled with red and white. It’s the country’s birthday. One hundred and forty six years old...

It’s not easy to wake up every morning to be George,
to have the strength to greet the day, to see with clarity,
feeling more than one can think.

To slowly and gently fix a collar spread—
stiff, but quite perfect.

To pluck splintered cedar trees
from brogue leather tips and to raise with horsehair,
strands of invisible thread,

and then to tie a bow—
loose and even, as if tailored on the fly.
Seamless it must look, to know how to be.